Collapsible drawer file



Sept. 26, 1961 D. T. THOMPSON COLLAPSIBLE DRAWER FILE- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 23, 1959 INVENTOR. DAN/EL 7. Flow/ps0! P 1961 D. T. THOMPSON 3,001,845

COLLAPSIBLE DRAWER FILE Filed Oct. 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ,DAW/EL Z ZZmMpso/v BY V 3,001,845 COLLAPSIBLE DRAWER FILE Daniel T. Thompson, 10584 Bradbury Road, Los Angeles 64, Calif. Filed Oct. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 848,314 9 Claims. (Cl. 312-2725) The present invention relates to a lightweight drawer file for papers, magazines, files or the like which may be used as a stationary device or may be easily collapsed and made portable so as to be carried in the same manner as a brief case or portable typewriter.

In many occupations, it is necessary to maintain a classified or indexed file so that papers under any class or index may be quickly and easily available. At the end of the day or when a job is completed, the papers are required to be removed and transported to the home, ofiice or the next place of call where the papers again must be easily accessible according to class or index. Such occupations as salesmen, accountants, school teachers, lawyers and many others have need for such a collapsible drawer file which is portable and may be used as a stationary device. There are no known device heretofore capable of performing this function. A brief case is portable, but is not usable as a file due to inaccessibility of the papers when placed therein. Stationary files are too heavy and bulky to be transported, and are not collapsible so that they are portable.

The present invention for the first time provides a drawer file which is lightweight, compact and collapsible so as to be usable as a portable file, as well as a stationary file. The present collapsible file includes a plurality of individually removable drawers stacked on one another and slidably receivable in separate drawer guides. Suitable linkage interconnects the drawer guides to allow the guides and drawers to move between a collapsed position and an extended position where each drawer is adapted to be removed. Papers or the like may be filed in each drawer and any classification or index may be afiixed or assigned to the drawers. Top and bottom outer casings enclose the collapsible drawers and guides for providing a compact device which is portable. When the top casing is opened suitable means automatically actuates the drawers causing them to move from a collapsed position to an extended position where the filed papers are readily available by merely selecting and removing the proper drawer or drawers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a drawer file for papers or the like which may be used as a stationary device or may be easily collapsed and made portable.

Another object is to provide a novel collapsible drawer file for papers or the like.

A further object is to provide a portable file for papers or the like which may be quickly set up to provide a semi-stationary file device having the filed papers or the like immediately available in a predetermined classified or indexed arrangement.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be readily apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the appended drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. '1 is a perspective view of an exemplary device of the present invention in a collapsed, portable position. FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the file device in FIG. 1 in an extended position with the outer casing broken away for clarity.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the file device in FIG. 1 in a collapsed, portable position with the outer casing broken away for clarity.

FIG. 4 shows a transverse section of the device taken along plane IV--IV of FIG. 2.

States atent O FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views of linkage and actuating means in the file device in FIGS. 1 to 4 for moving the drawers between an extended position and a collapsed position.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are detailed views of an actuating link in positions assumed when the device moves from the extended position of FIG. 5 to the collapsed position of FIG. 6, respectively.

In FIG. 1, an exemplary device of the present invention is shown having an outer casing 10 including a top 11 and bottom 12 pivotally connected at one side thereof by means of an elongated piano-type hinge 13. Suitable latching means 14 may be provided on the opposite side of the casing 10 for detachably fastening the free ends of the top and bottom together in the collapsed position. A handle 15 may also be provided on the outside of the casing 10.

Within said casing Ill and adapted to be moved between a collapsed position (FIG. 3) and an extended position (FIG. 2) are a plurality of stacked, horizontal drawer guides 20 and a removable drawer 3t} slidably carried in each of the guides 20.

Each drawer guide 20 mayhave spaced, opposite channel-shaped, elongated, horizontal members 21 and 21 (FIG. 4) which are interconnected at their rear ends by means of a transverse strip 22 acting as a stop for the drawers 3t), and which are connected at their front ends by means of a downwardly curved, drawer supporting strip 23. Such members 21 and 21 on each guide 20 function as means for slidably receiving a drawer 30. The supporting strip 23 and transverse stop strip 22 of each drawer guide 20 may be rigidly connected to the elongated members 21 and 21' by any suitable means, such as rivets 24, to form a unit which may be quickly and easily manufactured from any suitable lightweight material, preferably aluminum.

Each drawer 30 may have horizontally extending flanges 31 and 31' slidably receivable in the channel members 21 and 21, respectively, and inwardly tapering side walls 32 and 32', and front and back walls 33 and 33' connecting the horizontal flanges 31 and 31' and the bottom 34 of the drawer. v The back wall 33 of a drawer 30 is adapted to engage the stop strip 22 of a guide 20.

As best seen in FIG. 3, in a collapsed position, the guides 20 are adapted to be stacked on one another, and the drawers 30 due to the tapering walls thereof are adapted to be received within one another in a nested condition. It is understood that each drawer may vary in width, length and depth according to various uses.

Linkage means may be provided for interconnecting adjacent guides 20 for limited vertical and substantially parallel movement with respect to each other between the extended position and the collapsed position. One such exemplary means may be a pair of crossed links 41 and 42 pivoted together at their midpoints by a pin 43 and having their lower ends pivotally connected to a lower adjacent drawer guide and upper ends pivotally connected to an upper adjacent drawer guide. The lowermost drawer guide 20' may be pivotally connected by means of crossed links 41 and 42 pivotally connected at 43' to a rigid support 44 secured to the bottom casing 12.

The exemplary crossed links structure provides an accordion-like linkage for the drawer guides 26} so that the uppermost drawer guide 249 may be pulled upwardly and in sequential procession, the remaining drawer guides will also be pulled upwardly into the extended position. It is understood that due to the crossed pivotally connected links 41 and 42, each drawer guide 20 has limited vertical and substantially parallel movement with respectto the other drawer guides and is allowed to move a sufilcient distance sothat its respective drawer has suificient clearance to be removed from adjacent guides.

Drawer guide positioning means may be provided for moving the guides 20 between the collapsed position of FIG. 3 and the extended position of FIG. 2 where the guides are vertically spaced and each drawer '30 is adapted to be removed from its respective guide 20. One exemplary drawer guide positioning means may include fixed lower supports 47 and 47 secured on the bottom of casing 12 and an upper movable horizontal header bar 48 pivotally connected at 49 and 49 to the upper drawer.

guide 20 by means of the upper ends of a pair of links 41 and 42. A pair of lower elongated guide positioning links 51 and 51' may be pivotally connected at their lower ends to the fixed supports 47 and 47', respectively. The upper ends of links 51 and 51 may be pivotally connected to the lower ends of upper guide positioning links 52 and 52', respectively, whose upper ends are pivotally connected to the movable header bar 48. It is understood that the length of the drawer guide positioning links 51 and 52 may be varied but the combined length of these two links in the extended position shown in FIG. 2 are substantially equal to the maximum extended distance or height of the header bar 48 from the bottom casing 12.

The lower ends of the links 52 and 52' and the upper ends of the links 51 and 51 may be provided with inwardly extending, complementary cut-out portions 53 and 53', respectively, adapted to interengage and act as limiting stops to prevent the links 51 and 52 from moving towards the left beyond a substantially vertical position, as seen in FIG. 2. Cut-outs 53 and 53 allow the links 51 and 52 to only pivot towards the right, as seen in FIG. 2, and thus tend to lock the header bar 48 in its extended position of FIG. 2.

A horizontal link 55 may be pivotally connected at 56 and 56, respectively, to the lower links 51 and 51 to cause the links 51 and 51', and 52 and 52 to act simultaneously between the collapsed and extended positions.

Actuating means may be provided for connecting the drawer guide positioning means with the top casing 11 for actuating the drawer guide positioning means between the collapsed position when the top casing 11 is closed and encloses the guides and drawers, and the extended position when the top casing is opened for all-owing the drawers to be removed. An exemplary actuating means may include a link 61 having a lower end 62 pivoted at 56 on the horizontal link 55 and an upper end provided with a slot 63. An enlarged opening 64 (FIGS. 7 and 8) may be provided in the slotted end of the link 61 for receiving a pin 65 fixed on the inner side of the top casing 11 and which is adapted to slide in slot 63 in the link 61 when the top casing is closed. When the pin 65 is positioned within the enlarged opening 64 of the link 61, the link 61 acts as a rigid actuating member for transmitting downward movement of the top casing 11 into force for urging the horizontal link 55 towards the right thus causing the links 51, 52, 51 and 52' to collapse the guides 20 and drawers 30. This is best seen in FIGS. and 6 where the linkage structure is shown diagrammatically and the top casing 11 has begun its movement downwardly, the actuating link 61 has caused the links 51 and 52 to be moved towards the right, and the header bar 48 has started its downward travel. When the actuating link 61 assumes a substantially vertical position as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the pin 65 will slide into the slot 63 (FIG. 8) and upon further movement of the top casing 11, the pin 65 will travel downwardly in the slot 63 of the link 61. At this point, the horizontal drawer guides 20 are in the stacked position, and the pin 65 sliding in the slot 63 of the actuating link 61 allows the top casing 11 to be closed and enclose the drawers and guides as seen in FIG. 3.

It is understood that both sides of the drawer guides 20 may be interconnected by cross pivoted links 41 and 42; and also that additional drawer guide positioning means and an actuating link may be provided on the;

other side of the drawers and guides to allow the guides and drawers to remain level and substantially parallel during movement between the collapsed and extended positions. However, for ease of describing and understanding the invention, only one drawer guide positioning means and actuating means have been described.

It can thus be seen that a drawer file is provided by the present invention which may be easily collapsed and made portable or can be quickly set up into a semistationary file. It is preferred that the device of the present invention be made out of lightweight material, such as thin sheets of aluminum. However, other wellknown materials may be used, such as plastics, layers of hardened fiberglass or the like. The outer casing may be of different colors to enhance its attractiveness, and also provided with short legs on the same side as the hinge 13 to enable the device to stand upright.

It can now be further understood that papers, files, magazines or the like may be easily carried in each drawer 30 and readily removed when the device is in the extended position. If papers or files extend above the height of any one drawer, the upper adjacent drawer above the papers will clamp downwardly on the papers when the device is collapsed. This prevents a loose paper from becoming dislodged from its respective drawer when the device is being carried as a portable file, and does not prevent the device from collapsing. It is understood that any number of drawers and guides may be provided which will control the thickness of the device when collapsed. In some instances, it may be desirable to provide legal size drawers having relatively deep drawers so as to receive substantially thick legal files. In such instances, the height of thickness of the top casing may be easily varied in order to still enclose all of the drawers and guides in the collapsed position.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. A collapsible drawer file, comprising: a plurality of stacked, horizontal drawer guides, each guide having opposite channel members adapted to receive a drawer; a removable drawer slidably carried in each of said guides, each drawer having horizontal flanges slidably received in said channel members and inwardly tapering walls connecting said horizontal flanges and the bottom of said drawer so that the drawers are nestable in a collapsed position; linkage means for interconnecting adjacent guides for limited vertical and substantially parallel movement with respect to each other between extended and collapsed position; and drawer guide positioning means for moving said guides between a collapsed position where said guides are substantially stacked on one another and said drawers are nested and an extended position where said guides are vertically spaced and each drawer is adapted to be removed from its respective guide.

2. A collapsible drawer file as stated in claim 1 wherein said drawer guide positioning means includes a fixed, lower support; an upper movable, horizontal header pivotally connected to the upper drawer guide; and linkage pivotally connecting said upper movable header to said fixed lower support for movement of said guides and drawers between collapsed and extended positions.

3. A collapsible drawer file, comprising: a plurality of stacked, horizontal drawer guides; a removable drawer carried by each of said guides, said drawers having inwardly tapering walls adapting said drawers to nest within each other; linkage means for interconnecting adja- .cent guides for limited vertical movement with respect to each other between extended and collapsed positions; and

separate drawer guide positioning means for moving said.

guides between a collapsed position where said guides are substantially stacked on one another and said drawers are compactly nested and an extended position where said guides are vertically spaced and each drawer is adapted to be removed from its respective guide.

4. A collapsible drawer file as stated in claim 3, wherein each drawer guide includes means for slidably recei ving a drawer and for allowing the drawer to be slidably removed and completely disengaged from said drawer guide.

5. A collapsible drawer file having an outer casing including a top and bottom hinged together at one side thereof, comprising: a plurality of stacked, horizontal drawer guides having the lowermost guide connected to the bottom casing, each iguide having opposite channel members adapted to receive a drawer; a removable drawer slidably carried in each of said guides, each drawer having horizontal flanges slidably receivable in said channel members and inwardly tapering walls connecting said horizontal flanges and the bottom of said drawer so that the drawers are nestable in a collapsed position; linkage means for interconnecting adjacent guides for limited vertical and substantial parallel movement with respect to each other between extended and collapsed positions; drawer guide positioning means for moving said guides between a collapsed position where said guides are substantially stacked on one another and said drawers are nested and an extended position where said guides are vertically spaced and each drawer is adapted to be removed from its respective guide; and actuating means connecting said drawer guide positioning means with said top casing for actuating said drawer guide positioning means between the collapsed position when the top casing is closed and encloses the guides and drawers, and the extended position when the top casing is opened for allowing the drawers to be removed.

6. A collapsible drawer file as stated in claim 5, wherein said drawer guide positioning means includes a fixed, lower support; an upper movable, horizontal header pivotally connected to the upper drawer guide; and linkage pivotally connecting said upper movable header to said fixed lower support for movement of said guides and drawers between collapsed and extended positions.

7. A collapsible drawer file as stated in claim 6, Wherein said actuating means includes a link having one end pivoted on said drawer guide positioning means and the other end being slotted; and an enlarged opening in said slotted end of said link receiving a pin fixed on the inner side of said top casing and adapted to slide in the slot in said link whereby when the top casing is closed said link actuates the draw guide positioning means into the collapsed position by said pin cooperating with said enlarged opening and when said link assumes a substantially "vertical position said pin slides intothe slot in the link allowing the top casing to close and enclose the collapsed guides and drawers.

8. A collapsible drawer file having an outer casing including a top and bottom hinged together at one side thereof, comprising: a plurality of stacked, horizontal drawer guides having the lowermost guide connected to the bottom casing and each guide having means for slidably receiving a drawer; a removable drawer slidably carried by said means in each of said guides; linkage means for interconnecting adjacent guides for limited vertical movement with respect to each other between extended and collapsed positions; drawer guide positioning means for moving said guides between a collapsed position where said guides are substantially stacked on one another and an extended position where said guides are vertically spaced and each drawer is adapted to be removed from its respective guide; and actuating means connecting said drawer guide positioning means with said (top casing for actuating said drawer guide positioning means between the collapsed position when the top casing is closed and encloses the guides and drawers and the extended position when the top casing is opened for allowing drawers to be slidably removed.

9. A collapsible drawer file as stated in claim 8, wherein each drawer includes inwardly tapering walls so that the drawers are nestable ina collapsed position to provide a compact file in the collapsed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 607,539 Camp July 19, 1898 772,682 Steiger Oct. 18, 1904 812,967 Wigington Feb. 20, 1906 2,961,101 Hutton NOV. 22, 1960 

